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TRACK REVIEW: ‘Woman Like Me’ – Little Mix ft. Nicki Minaj

Little Mix is arguably the greatest girl group of this generation. Nicki Minaj is arguably (although that debate is slightly more complicated given recent developments) the greatest female rapper of all time. So what do you get when you put greatness and greatness together? A little track called ‘Woman Like Me’ is what you get. The lead single off the upcoming 5th studio album from the British quartet, ‘Woman Like Me’ is the first taste of what is described as an album about female empowerment. Unfortunately, ‘Woman Like Me’ isn’t quite the slam dunk of female empowerment one might be expecting.

The track is a fabulous electropop-trap-R&B hybrid with perfect flow and delivery from all four girls (particularly Nelson, whose sultry vocal suits this production perfectly) as well as Minaj, who provides one of her better features in awhile, matching the song’s vibe and message magically.

Despite the near-immaculate production and performances, it is the song’s lyrical content that lets it down. It’s not that the song is particularly poorly written, it’s actually quite a smart cut with an undeniably catchy hook. However, the track isn’t everything it could have been. Instead of focusing on the brilliance of women like the Little Mix ladies, the entire song is built on the bones of asking a man whether he could possibly “fall for a woman like me”.

‘Woman Like Me’ isn’t bad. In fact, it’s a wonderful lead single and it has hit written all over it. It just doesn’t have female empowerment written all over it. It is great to see five strong women embrace and discuss their “insecurities”, but that discussion shouldn’t centre around whether those insecurities are too much for some man to ever love them and then be packaged as some female empowerment anthem. The track discusses a universal feeling of insecurity in a relationship, but it isn’t the rallying cry for females around the world that we are being led to believe it is supposed to be, and, unfortunately, that lessens its impact.